Kourosh Sotoodeh (born March 19, 1978) is an Iranian born

fashion photographer Fashion photography is a genre of photography that portrays clothing and other fashion items. This sometimes includes haute couture garments. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking pictures of a dressed model in a photographic stu ...

based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Life and career

Sotoodeh was born in 1978 in

Tonekabon Tonekabon () is a city in the Central District of Tonekabon County, Mazandaran province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Etymology Toneka was a large and fortress-like city with a fence and a hard and stron ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. He holds a bachelor in Industrial Design from Azad Art University of Tehran. His interest in visual arts started at a young age and started working as a fashion and portrait photographer in 1998. In addition to photography, Sotoodeh acted in few Iranian films including '' Cafe Setareh'', which received a

Crystal Simorgh The Crystal Simorgh () is an award given by Fajr International Film Festival, Iran's major annual film festival. It is awarded in several categories of International Competition as well as Iranian Cinema Competition. The award's name comes from ...

nomination in the 24th

Fajr International Film Festival Iran's annual Fajr International Film Festival (), or Fajr Film Festival (little: FIFF; ), has been held every February in Tehran since 1983. The festival is supervised by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. It takes place on the anni ...

. He started his acting career at the Amin Tarokh Film Acting School in 1998 and played in some theaters such as ''

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui ''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' (), subtitled "A parable play", is a 1941 play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional 1930s Chicago mobster, and his attempts to control the cauliflower ra ...

'' at

City Theater of Tehran The City Theater (, ''Teātr-e Šahr'') is a performing arts complex in Tehran, the capital of Iran. It was built with the initiative of Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi under the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal ...

. He continued his training at the Karnameh Institute of Arts & Culture where he took acting class with

Parviz Parastui Parviz Parastui (; born 24 June 1955) is an Iranian actor. He has received various accolades, including four Crystal Simorgh for Best Actor–making him the only actor to have four wins in that category–four Hafez Awards, two Iran Cinema Celebr ...

and Habib Rezaei in 2005. In 2006, he was featured on the cover of 40cheragh magazine and his photographs were exhibited at Mahe Mehr Art & Cultural Institute in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. In 2009, Sotoodeh left Iran during the government crackdown and moved to the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

. He worked as a professional fashion and advertising photographer in Dubai for a few modeling and advertising agencies before he settled in

in 2015. Sotoodeh talked about leaving Iran and working in Dubai and NYC in an interview given to

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

, “The subjects in my photography are people, therefore it is natural for me to want to go somewhere where people have more freedom with their clothes, conduct, and social acts.” He worked with a number of top modeling agencies including

IMG Models IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is a global sports, fashion, events and media company headquartered in New York City. The company manages athletes and fashion celebrities; owns, operates and commercially represents ...

Women Management Women Management is a prominent modeling agency with its headquarters in New York City, New York. It is a part of the Women International Agency Chain, which was established by Paul Rowland in the year 1988. In addition to its New York location, ...

, dna Model and The Lions as a fashion & beauty photographer in New York. His inspiration in fashion photography includes

Irving Penn Irving Penn (June 16, 1917October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' magazine, and independent advertising work for clie ...

Helmut Newton Helmut Newton (né Neustädter; 31 October 192023 January 2004) was a German-Australian photographer. The ''The New York Times, New York Times'' described him as a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically ch ...

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vogue'' and '' Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and ...

and

Herb Ritts Herbert Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer and director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on b ...

. Sotoodeh worked with

Joanne Gair Joanne Gair (born c. 1958), nicknamed Kiwi Jo (alternatively Kiwi Joe), is a New Zealand-born and -raised make-up artist and body painting, body painter whose body paintings have been featured in the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' from 1 ...

at several shoots for the editorial of L'officiel and Lucire. In January 2017, he collaborated with Gair again and shot Iranian princess,

Noor Pahlavi Reza Pahlavi (; born 31 October 1960) is the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran of the roughly 53-year old Pahlavi dynasty, and his third wife Farah Diba. He was officially named Pahlavi dynasty, Crown Prince of Pahla ...

, daughter of Crown prince Reza Pahlavi, for the editorial of Marie Claire Indonesia. He also worked with noted Iranian photographer Firooz Zahedi for some projects.

Campaign

Sotoodeh has shot campaigns for Essie, Estée Lauder, Fair & Lovely, Kahlua, Blue Marlin Ibiza, Native,

FashionTV FashionTV is an international fashion and lifestyle broadcasting channel. Founded in France in 1997, by its Polish-born president Michel Adam Lisowski, FashionTV is one of the most widely distributed satellite channels in the world with 31 sa ...

, and

Flydubai Dubai Aviation Corporation (), doing business as flydubai (), is an Emirati government-owned airline based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The airline mainly operates out of Terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport, though some flights fly out ...

and his works were covered by various fashion channels including

and Fashion One. He has shot for a number of Persian celebrities including

Mohsen Namjoo Mohsen Namjoo () is an Iranian singer-songwriter, composer, and musician. His style of music is influenced by blues and rock as well as Iranian folk music. Early life and education Namjoo was born on 4 March 1976 in Torbat-e Jam, a small town ...

, and some Bollywood actors while he was in Dubai such as

Saif Ali Khan Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. The titular head of the Pataudi family since 2011, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore a ...

and others.

Editorial

Sotoodeh's photographs are covered in various fashion magazines including

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

, Glamour,

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

L'Officiel ''L'Officiel'' (; stylised in all caps), full name ''L'Officiel de la couture et de la mode de Paris'' ("The Official ublicationof Paris Couture and Fashion"), is a French bimonthly fashion magazine. It has been published in Paris since 1921 a ...

MAXIM Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

and others.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sotoodeh, Kourosh Living people 1978 births People from Mazandaran province Iranian photographers University of Tehran alumni People from Tonekabon